May 17 2009

Old Friends Pop Round

Category: Anna's Photos,Friends,PersonalChrisM @ 3:11 am

A couple of days after we arrived, Walton and Assel came to visit us at the in-laws (where we lived until our flat could be sorted out properly in terms of re-decoration, hot water etc.) It was great to see them both after one day shy of six months (17th May).
So, we have a shot of Anna on the floor in some dungarees, Anna with Asel (I’ll hedge my bets and spell it with one S this time) and then Walton, and finally a quick picture taken with her Great Grandmother (I think the Russian is something like old-grandmother!)

Anna Dungarees

Anna Dungarees

Assel and Anna at the In-Laws

Assel and Anna at the In-Laws

Walton and Anna at the In-Laws

Walton and Anna at the In-Laws

Anna and Ira's Babushka in the In-Law's Kitchen

Anna and Ira's Babushka in the In-Law's Kitchen

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May 01 2009

Assel’s Birthday

Category: Friends,PersonalChrisM @ 2:52 am

Today is a happy day for Assel (Walton’s wife). Hopefully we will meet soon, and celebrate this day properly. Hoping you have a relaxing and stress free day 🙂

Happy Birthday

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Jan 21 2009

Ali Ba Ba

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 8:47 pm

Here we have Walton, Asel, Dr. Ken, David, Irina and myself, all eating out at the Ali Ba Ba restaurant in Astana, just after out return to Kazakhstan from Britain and Amsterdam. Which reminds me, I still have a lot of Amsterdam pictures hiding on one of the hard drives that need to be published along with a few coffeeshop reviews.

Walton Asel Ali Ba Ba Astana

Walton Asel Ali Ba Ba Astana


Iria DavidG Ali Ba Ba Astana

Iria DavidG Ali Ba Ba Astana


Dr Ken Ali Ba Ba Astana

Dr Ken Ali Ba Ba Astana

As you may have noticed, this blog now has a very light weight gallery plugin installed. When you click on a thumbnail, you should see the original, higher resolution image pop up in a new box. Do let me know if you encounter any problems. Smart alecs are not welcome to leave messages complaining of no images whilst using the Lynx browser ;-P

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Dec 31 2008

Almost There

Category: Friends,Kazakhstan,PersonalChrisM @ 8:17 pm

This is just a quick post to wish this site’s readers a very Happy New Year.

We currently have Marilyn & Peter over (Chris & Tim’s parents), as well as John’s son and daughter-in-law and their kids, with midnight fast approaching. To our American visitors, I hope you are warming up to the evening well, to my UK amigos, just under four hours to go. To my Kazakh readers, Snovum Goddum, hope you are already having a great 2009. (Over there, Western Xmas is barely noticed, Orthodox Xmas is observed, but New Year is the big deal.) Big HELLO to Walton, Assel, DavidG, ChrisK, The Dans & their respective familys, DrKen, lovely friendly Northern bloke I’ve temporarily forgotten the name of, Mel, the in-laws, Dana & Assen, Mira, Bayen & son and everyone else – thanks to all for your support over the last year/months (delete as applicable 🙂 ).
With Arriving to Britain, settling in, Christmas, New Year, and the baby due in February, it is possible that site will see a few less posts in the future, however the blog will remain here (assuming I remember to renew the hosting 🙂 ), and I’ll try to get back to regular posting ASAP.

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Nov 13 2008

Sligo

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 4:12 am

I have mentioned this pub a couple of times here on the blog, but have yet to post photos or pass comment on the food.
Well, lets start at the beginning. It is located near the Intercontinental Hotel here in Astana, and is most definitely branded as an Irish pub (though it is probably a lot closer to an Irish-themed pub in Britain than the real thing. Not a real issue, just letting you know). The decor is pretty good considering there probably aren’t that many Irish experts in this locality. The staff were very courteous, and I’m told there is always at least on member on duty who speaks English. The first time I went there, they didn’t have much Irish music at all, and as we were returning in the evening, I burnt some Dubliners albums (the only Irish music, other than Enya, I could find on my hard drive) for them. The food was good – I think I had some sort of steak and boiled potatoes dish, whilst the others had various Irish dishes. The stew was a lot more than passable apparently. The dessert was just the right size, and again tasty.
Onto the photos…
First we have Ira and Assel (Walton’s other 0.5)

Ira And Assel Sligo Pub Astana

Ira And Assel Sligo Pub Astana

Here we have the aforementioned Walton and me (I’m the one on the right, posing beautifully for the camera.)

Walton And Me

Walton And Me

Here we have Dr Ken (for any macho men out there, you’ll find beers are ALWAYS served with a straw over here – he didn’t actually specifically request one 😉 )

Dr Ken

Dr Ken

And here we have DaveG, loving the camera lens as much as ever 🙂

DaveG

DaveG

The next three are a shot of the back half of Sligo, the cheesecake I mentioned, and finally the band that were playing. Which makes me think all these photos must have been taken the last time we visited Slago. See KZBlog’s post (Live Music In Astana) for more info on the band.

Sligo Pub

Sligo Pub


Chocolate Cheesecake

Chocolate Cheesecake

Band Playing

Band Playing

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Nov 10 2008

Dave’s Party

Category: Friends,Personal,PicturesChrisM @ 3:54 am

Just before he went off to Moscow and moved out of his flat, DaveG held a party round at his (partially as a flat cooling party (does that term exist?) and partially as a goodbye for us, as we may not cross paths again for a few months). I took a few snaps, and realised that some of our friends had never been posted here on this blog before.
So, without further ado, may I present (starting from top left, going clockwise in both cases) Assel, DaveG (mostly obscured), Dan, another Dan and Jo.

DaveG's Party #1

DaveG's Party #1

Here we have Dr Ken, Irina, Walton, Assel, DaveG, Dan, Jo, and the other Dan again. (TBH I’ve labelled them as Shymkent and Non-Shymkent Dan in my phonebook, but that will make even less sense to everyone reading this.)

DaveG's Party #2

DaveG's Party #2

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Sep 02 2008

Walton’s Happy Day

Category: Friends,PersonalChrisM @ 2:19 am

A BIG Happy Birthday to our friend Walton. Hoping we’ll see you soon to celebrate this occasion in style 🙂

Happy Birthday

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Jun 21 2008

Good Night Out

Category: Eating Out,Friends,Kazakhstan,PersonalChrisM @ 10:13 pm

Just a quick post from the in-laws for now, but last night Ira and I went out to the Queen’s Birthday Party, organised by the British (! (/sarcasm)) Embassy, then went on to the BG Challenge Ball (see last year’s post – if I don’t get around to linking to it properly, it should hopefully pop up in the ‘related posts’ links below this text, and then finally onto a club called A8. We saw a lot of friends, some of whom had not met each other before, I wore a suit (!), had proper fish and chips (served in newspaper), and finally got to see if A8 lived up to the hype.
Can someone remind me to change that last paragraph from one sentence into something a little more manageable? Anyway, no photos as not enough pockets, but I’ll try and post more details soon, once I’m a little more alert.
I’ve just returned from a nice meal out with Walton and Assel, and returned to the in-laws where Aunty Sasha is.

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May 14 2008

Posts Still To Come

Category: PersonalChrisM @ 4:16 am

OK, so I am still behind in updating this blog with recent events. As Irina pointed out, there is a large gap starting with the beginning of our journey to Amsterdam, all of the stay in Britain, returning to Kazakhstan, (finally) meeting Pilot Tom for a meal, and meeting up with Dave, Walton, Assel, and probably a few other things.
The holiday part will have to wait until I get round to sorting some of the pictures out, but I hope to have them for you soon…

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Mar 01 2008

IT and Cats

Category: Dasha&Kittens,PersonalChrisM @ 5:04 pm

This week I started giving computing lessons to a colleague of Walton. She came round with her laptop, and we are going through basic skills, as well as how to save time by learning various shortcuts. One hour of pure IT can be a bit much for the non-geeks out there, but luckily Karra and Muska (our kittens) were on hand to provide occasional distractions. Some of the cat products in our flat have seen better days – one of the toy mice had its ear ripped off whilst my pupil was here!
We also got out the squeaky mouse that sits on the end of an elasticated fishing rod-type affair. Karra tends to watch it jumping around, almost as though she is analysing the patterns of its movements, then pounces when she thinks she has the best chance of holding on to the grey squeaky furry thing 🙂 Muska on the other hand will carry out all sorts of aerial acrobatics in her quest to trap the prey.
Once I had changed the batteries in their other favourite toy, we had a little laser show going on. I picked it up last September, as a replacement for the little laser pen we had previously been using. This version has two lasers, some mirrors and a couple of motors, to create pretty geometric patterns on the floor, and normally grabs the kittens’ attention. Hmmm, how old are kittens once they become cats?

Anyway, we need to find some new toys for them sometime, so I’ll keep my eye out in the local shops and online, to see what can be found.

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